Fantasy Football 2024: Crucial start/sit decisions for Week 10
By Chet Gresham
Welcome to Week 10 of the NFL season! We've got four teams on bye this week, so your start/sit decisions might be a little tougher than usual. Hopefully, we can help you out with some advice below.
If you like my advice, it won’t be hard to transfer these thoughts into lineup decisions. As a baseline, I’ll be using FantasyPros PPR Expert Consensus Rankings rankings as my guide. Here are your crucial roster decisions for Week 10.
QBs I like more than consensus
Sam Darnold, Vikings at Jaguars
It's not usually a tough call to start a quarterback facing the Jaguars poor defense. Darnold has played well enough this season and this will likely be a nice spike week, especially with T.J. Hockenson likely ready to play a full set of snaps to accompany a full stable of healthy wide receivers led by Justin Jefferson.
The Jaguars have allowed two or more touchdown passes to six quarterbacks this season. They also rank last in pass defense EPA and are the second-worst at allowing fantasy points to quarterbacks. Start Darnold!
Brock Purdy, 49ers at Buccaneers
Purdy continues to put up good efficiency numbers, but has had trouble finding the end zone and avoiding turnovers. The 49ers are coming off their bye and should be as healthy as they've been in a while. Christian McCaffrey is the big name who appears likely to return and his abilities as a receiver and runner make Purdy's life so much easier, especially around the goal line.
The 49ers should also get Jauan Jennings back, who will need to play a bigger role with Brandon Aiyuk out for the season. Add in Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, and you have yourself a group poised to put up numbers against the Buccaneers, who have allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.
QBs I like less than consensus
Drake Maye, Patriots at Bears
Maye has shown himself to be a good option despite the weak roster around him. Sure, he has rookie problems, but he makes up for many of those with his legs, as Maye can scramble with the best of them. That rushing ability keeps his upside higher than you might think, but this week he faces a Bears team that has allowed the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. He might still run enough to give him a decent fantasy floor, but I'm sitting Maye in Chicago unless I'm desperate.
C.J. Stroud, Texans vs. Lions
Stroud has not been good this season but it's mostly not his fault. His offensive line has been abysmal and his receivers can't stay on the field. Offseason addition Stefon Diggs is out for the season, while top receiver Nico Collins has missed the last four weeks with a hamstring injury. The hope was that Collins would return this week, but after not practicing Wednesday or Thursday, it looks like he'll be out again.
The Lions also rank fifth in pass defense EPA and haven't allowed one quarterback to throw more than one touchdown pass in a game. On the season they've allowed six touchdown passes to 11 interceptions through eight matchups. I'm steering clear of Stroud.
RBs I like more than consensus
Tyrone Tracy, Giants vs. Panthers
Tracy didn't practice much last week as he recovered from a concussion, so Devin Singetary took all of those practice reps. But in the end, it didn't matter, as Tracy was cleared and went on to dominate the workload as the lead back. If you have any concerns with Tracy, you're probably overthinking it this week.
The rookie gets to face the Panthers, and if you have a back facing the Panthers, you start that back. The Panthers have allowed the most rushing yards and the most touchdowns to running backs this season and they aren't getting any better as the season goes on.
Chuba Hubbard, Panthers vs. Giants
We're still waiting to see if running back Jonothan Brooks will be active this week, but what we do know is that Chuba Hubbard will be after he just secured a nice new contract.
Brooks has been slow-rolled as he returns from his college ACL injury and even if he does play this week, I'd still start Hubbard as you have been all season. This Panthers team is not going to give their rookie running back a big workload in his first game of a lost season — I feel confident about that. The Giants also rank 27th in rushing defense EPA this year.
RBs I like less than consensus
Tony Pollard, Titans at Chargers
Pollard didn't practice all last week, but did end up playing and playing well. He actually topped 30 touches against a weak Patriots defense. Unfortunately, he has a much tougher matchup this week against the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh's group has given up just one rushing touchdown this year.
Tank Bigsby & Travis Etienne, Jaguars vs. Vikings
The Jaguars running backs are all healthy once again, and that means their touches are getting split up. The good news for Tank Bigsby is that he's taken over the lead role, but unfortunately he needs a lead to keep getting fed. That's been tough for the Jaguars, as they've been middling on offense and poor on defense.
Plus, it looks like Trevor Lawrence won't be able to play against the Vikings. That should push Mac Jones to the lead, which isn't good for the offense as a whole. Add in the Vikings tough defense, and I don't like anyone on the Jaguars offense, including both running backs.
WRs I like more than consensus
Jauan Jennings, 49ers at Buccaneers
All signs point to Jennings returning this week following the 49ers bye. That's good news for the 49ers passing attack, as Jennings has shown tremendous upside when targeted this year. The 49ers are healthier than they have been in a while, but wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is out for the year, which should leave Jennings with enough work to be a fantasy contributor. And with the Buccaneers pass defense near the bottom in all categories, I like his chances of putting up good numbers.
Rome Odunze, Bears vs. Patriots
It's sad to see, but Keenan Allen is not the player he once was. And D.J. Moore? What are you doing walking off the field? I blame the BEars coaching for a lot of their problems, but I do think Caleb Williams and fellow rookie Rome Odunze are starting to get a rhythm going. Last week Williams targeted him seven times, and he caught five for 104 yards.This week they face a Patriots team that rank 30th in pass defense EPA.
WRs I like less than consensus
Calvin Ridley, Titans at Chargers
Ridley is getting too many targets to be completely down on him, but he has been extremely inconsistent. Now he heads to Los Angeles to face a Chargers pass defense that ranks third best in fantasy points allowed to receivers. He's still worth starting where the bye weeks are making it tough, but I have little faith in him this week.
Marvin Harrison, Cardinals vs. Jets
Harrison has been inconsistent all season, but over his last five games, he's had just one where it was worth starting him in fantasy. That was a great game, where he went for 111 yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins two weeks ago, but you don't want to talk about the rest.
So far this season he's been a Top 10 fantasy receiver twice and he's averaging just 6.1 targets per game. This week he faces a Jets secondary that has allowed five wide receiver touchdowns all season through nine games and the fewest overall receptions by a good margin.
TEs I like more than consensus
Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Falcons
The Saints are hurting with Chris Olave out this week — and maybe more — with yet another head injury, Rashid Shaheed done for the season, and then plenty of depth pieces at receiver and running back missing time. That should once again push Taysom Hill to good usage this week. And when he's getting a lot of snaps, he's usually involved around the goal-line.
Hunter Henry, Patriots vs. Bears
The Bears defense is tough on wide receivers, but they'll let tight ends get their checkdowns. Drake Maye has realized early on that Henry is his safe space and I expect he'll lead the team in targets this week, as the Bears defense protects from the big play.
TEs I like less than consensus
Sam LaPorta, Lions at Texans
The Texans lead the league in receptions and yards allowed to tight ends this season. Plus, Jameson Williams will be back from his suspension, and Sam LaPorta is averaging a measly 3.3 targets per game this season. None of this looks too promising.
Ja'Tavion Sanders, Panthers vs. Giants
Sanders has been putting up decent numbers lately and it makes sense to take a look at him with so many good tight ends on bye. The good news is that he's catching big gainers and proving he should continue to see more targets each week. But, I worry about this matchup, as the Giants lead the league in sacks and Bryce Young has been brutal under pressure this season. I believe the Young-Sanders connection needs more time than Young will be able to find in the pocket this week.